Security agents, operatives and assorted henchmen come equipped with an earpiece so they can unobtrusively stay in touch with the rest of their team. When one of them, whether he's a hero or a villain, removes it, that means he's going to disobey an order, play solo or even go rogue. In which case his teammates will urgently ask him what's going on, and won't receive an answer.In more light-hearted media, the character may remove the earpiece because the person on the other side is simply getting on their nerves, [[PoorCommunicationKills thus isolating them from the team]] in a self-inflicted version of CellphonesAreUseless. Cue viewers going WhatAnIdiot as soon as the character's teammates try to reach them with vital information about the plot of the week.

Alternatively, a character removing his earpiece signals that what is going to be said or done is intended to remain "off the record".

----!!Examples:

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In the ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' story "Manhunt" by Creator/ChuckDixon, the Black Canary ditches the earrings that allow her to receive Oracle's transmissions. Fortunately for her, she keeps the transmitter, and the receivers end up with Huntress and Catwoman.* In ''ComicBook/GorskyAndButch'', in a Matrix spoof, Butch removes the earpiece to break the HiveMind with the other agents and make them stop finishing his sentences for him.

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[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'': Agent Smith does this while interrogating Morpheus so he can reveal that, unlike other Agents, he actively hates humans and the world he's trapped in. In ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', his rogue status is illustrated by no longer wearing the earpiece at all. He sends it to Neo to unnerve him before they meet in person.-->'''Smith:''' I've changed. I'm "unplugged". A new man, so to speak - like you, apparently free.-->'''Neo:''' Congratulations.-->'''Smith:''' Thank you.* Emil Blonsky in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''.* A secret service agent in ''Film/VantagePoint'' does this when he goes rogue.* Sandra Bullock's character in ''Film/MissCongeniality'' -an undercover FBI agent- does this before initiating an oh-so-politically-incorrect interrogation session: clubbing, with pizza and beer. Remarkably enough, this works.* In the first ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' movie, Hellboy turns off his communicator while they're searching the subway to fight the monster Sammael undisturbed. Meanwhile TheMenInBlack on his team are massacred by Sammael clones and he can't be reached.* Wolverine does this in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' when the rest of the team are discussing their plan and he realizes if it goes the way they're hoping it will, he won't get a chance to confront the guy who holds the information about his past. When they next look up, he's gone.* James Bond in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': "I'll keep you posted."

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* In the ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series, Holly Short shuts off the communicator in her helmet when she is about to disobey an order to stand down.* End removes his two-way earpiece in the book ''Literature/SpeakerForTheDead'' during a private conversation, and accidentally causes a temporary shutdown of the galactic communication network, since the person on the other end was an artificial intelligence who ran the internet and was just that shocked Ender would do that to her.* Bel Thorne does this in ''Literature/MirrorDance'' when Admiral Naismith's clone -- er, ''brother'' -- shows up and ''almost'' passes himself off as the original with a new assignment.* On at least two occasions in Bruce Sterling's ''Literature/IslandsInTheNet'', Laura Webster pulls off her [[GogglesDoSomethingUnusual videoglasses]] and sets them aside so she can talk privately.* In ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Mockingjay,]]'' Katniss does this when [[spoiler: the capitol is attacking a hospital and she is ordered to leave the area.]]* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': Ciaphas mentions that [[ChickenWalker Sentinel pilots]] are used to operate solo missions with little input from command and as a result are even more of a MilitaryMaverick than the rest of the troops. They often experience mysterious vox failures when hearing an order they don't like.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In ''Series/TheATeam'''s Season 5 ''Film/JamesBond'' {{Homage}} episode "The Spy Who Mugged Me," Murdock (posing as a 007-type spy) does this when he starts making out with the villain's girlfriend. In doing so, he leaves poor Face to spend the night out in the rain.* In the ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode "The Fire in the Ice" when Booth is being interrogated on suspicion of murder, Agent Perotta removes her earpiece to indicate that she (not Dr. Sweets) is the one asking the questions from that point forward.* Happened in the episode "See No Evil" of ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.* Every once in awhile someone on ''Franchise/StarTrek'' removes their combadge to similar effect. Since it's also an emblem, it can be a sort of TurnInYourBadge. Plus, it's a tracking device.** Worf did this several times in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', removing his combadge to indicate that what he was doing was not Starfleet sanctioned. First when K'Ehleyr was killed, a second time when he left Starfleet to participate in the Klingon civil war, and in Deep Space Nine when he challenged Gowron's authority.** Picard did this in ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'' with removing his captain pips on his collar.** In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'''s "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges," Dr. Bashir and Admiral Ross have such an off-the-record discussion after removing their combadges.** Done very seriously by Chakotay in the ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' relaunch novels--he disappears into the wilderness without his commbadge. It's not just that he's cutting ties with Starfleet--he's basically abandoning his ''life''.* In the opening credits of ''Series/TheWire'', you see someone putting on an earpiece and later taking it off.* In ''Series/TheNewsroom'', Sloan Sabbith does this when going off the rails while covering the Fukushima Meltdown in "Bullies". Don Keefer is distinctly unhappy and her "going rogue" has consequences that resonate through the rest of the first season and into the second.* In ''Series/TheCloser'', Brenda removes her earpiece when a DA tries to use it to tell her how to run her interview. When she is asked to wear one so Taylor can instruct her, she "forgets" to put it in altogether.* In several episodes of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', Reese loses access to his earpiece - generally because he's undercover with a gang and they all ditch their mobiles in preparation for some form of crime, which is certainly a wise precaution in the age of GPS tracking. Reese does however play the trope straight in "Many Happy Returns".** PlayedForLaughs in the fourth season episode Honor among Thieves, where Shaw flirts with the number of the week, a professional thief, to get into his gang - and, just possibly, into his pants. Root listens in via earpiece and provides a running commentary (and her own flirtatious remarks) until Shaw shuts her off.

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Jack does it in ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' when he tires of working for The Bureau, cutting off his [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection link to Amala]]. [[spoiler:He later crushes it.]]* 47 does it at the end of the prologue of ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'' after killing his former contact and deciding not to turn over the girl she was trying to protect to the Agency.* [[spoiler: Sam Fisher]] cuts out his subdermal implant connecting him to to Third Echelon at the end of the Xbox, [=PS2=] and Wii versions of ''VideoGame/SplinterCellDoubleAgent''.* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' in Sombra's premiere animation she [[https://youtu.be/Og5-Pm4HNlI?t=3m58s takes out]] her earpiece when face to face with the corporate executive her team supposedly came to assassinate, in order to hide from the others that she intended to blackmail instead of killing their target for her own purposes. When she's done "negotiating" she puts it back in and claims that the target escaped.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'':** When trying to deal with [[GovernmentConspiracy Cadmus]], {{Superman}} is bound by regulations and rules he set up himself. After he learns from {{ComicBook/Huntress}} that ComicBook/TheQuestion has been captured by Cadmus and is being interrogated (tortured), he decides to take her advice and do things "off the books." No visual cue is given at that point, but he later gives his earpiece to Huntress so she can call the League and get emergency evacuation and medical aid for the injured Question. (She no longer has an earpiece of her own, having been expelled from the League in an earlier episode.)** When the sociopathic clone of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} leads an attack on the Watchtower, Amanda Waller (who authorized the attack) realizes that the League was framed and tries to issue a recall order. Galatea is too eager for a chance to kill Supergirl and the League to bother with trivialities like a direct order to stand down, so she removes her earpiece, crushes it and smugly comments to Supergirl, "Wrong number."* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Superboy does this when he feels like going for a ride with Sphere instead of listening to Batman's briefing.----